The invention relates to protective covers for automobile vinyl-covered dashboard pads, especially covers which can be installed over vinyl coverings which have been damaged and cracked due to excessive exposure to sunlight and heat; the invention relates more particularly to covers that can be installed without loosening or removing the vinyl covered dashboard pads from rigid dashboard substructures in automobiles; the invention also relates to methods for making such protective covers.
By way of background, it should be appreciated that the vinyl covering which is usually provided on dashboard pads in automobiles cannot withstand prolonged exposure to sunlight and heat for many years. The vinyl is ordinarily dark colored, and rapidly absorbs heat when exposed to intense sunlight. Over a several year period of continual daytime exposure to sunlight, the vinyl tends to become brittle. It also tends to shrink and expand as a result of repeated heating and cooling. This, combined with the increasing brittleness, often leads to unattractive cracks in the vinyl covering. This problem is especially pronounced in the hotter regions of the United States, such as Arizona. The problem has long been a disturbing one to car owners, since many owners need to leave their cars parked in the sunlight both during working hours and when they are at home. Many apartment dwellers have no covered parking facilities for their cars at any time, and the vinyl dashboard covering is exposed to intense sunlight almost every day. With the recent sharp increases in the prices of automobiles, automobile manufacturers have been cutting costs in every feasible way; one of the cost cutting measures has been use of lower quality covering for dashboard pads. The high cost of automobiles and generally weak economic conditions have resulted in owners keeping their automobiles longer than in the past.
These factors have made it more desirable than ever before that the unsightly cracking of vinyl covering for dashboard pads be somehow avoided. Although automobile manufacturers sometimes can supply new vinyl covered replacement dashboard pads, they are very expensive; the typical cost for a dashboard pad for medium sized, medium priced American automobile is approximately $150.00. The labor costs of removing the old dashboard pad and installing a new one must be added to this cost. For a few automobile models, a dashboard pad can be removed and replaced with a new one in less than an hour. Nevertheless, the labor cost actually charged usually will be approximately $70.00. For many automobile models, between one and eight hours of labor are required, and in a few models, the difficulty of removing an old dashboard pad and replacing it with a new one is so prohibitive that it is virtually impossible to find anyone who will even undertake the job for less than an outrageous fee.
In short, replacement of dashboard pads with sun damaged vinyl covering is expensive and impractical. There is a great need for a less expensive, more practical solution to the problem. Yet, no practical solutions to the above problems have emerged. A few enterprises have attempted to provide new covers for dashboard pads using vacuum forming techniques to provide a new thermoplastic covering therefore. These techniques, unfortunately, require removal of the dashboard pads, and have proved to be nearly as unacceptable as the expedient of simply replacing damaged dashboard pads with brand new dashboard pads supplied by the manufacturer. Filling the above-mentioned cracks with liquid vinyl has been attempted. This approach, although very inexpensive, is also very unsatisfactory because the vinyl filler material usually is quite visible. Furthermore, after only a few months of exposure to sunlight, it becomes brittle and also cracks.
Thus, it can be seen that there is a great unfulfilled need for an economical means for prolonging the useful life of vinyl covered dashboard pads without incurring unacceptably high costs.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a low cost protective covering for automobile dashboard pads.
It is another object of the invention to provide an inexpensive, durable, easily installed, attractive cover for sun damaged dashboard pads.
It is another object of the invention to provide a cover for automobile dashboard pads which can be securely and permanently installed without the necessity of loosening or removing the sun damaged dashboard pad.
It is another object of the invention to provide an economical method for making such low cost, easily installed, attractive durable covers for sun-damaged dashboard pads.